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Browsing by tag: animals and bugs

Kids & mice

Posted by Robin on 6 August 2007 Leave a Comment

When I was a kid, kids didn't smell. At least, they didn't smell like anything other than kids. And there wasn't anything like "body spray" for boys. You had "Right Guard" deodorant, which had a purpose and was forced upon you at a certain age by parents, and aftershave, which was only to be used "after" you were old enough to shave.

— Columnist Peter McKay in Boys stockpile from grooming aisle (link no longer active, sorry!), in which his son purchases, among other things, Axe Voodoo. And in possibly related news:

Female lab mice tend to be docile, passive creatures. But by either genetically shutting down or surgically removing their ability to smell pheromones, scientists transformed them into aggressive, pelvic-thrusting, vocalizing lotharios—without any significant rise in testosterone or other steroid hormones.

— Read the rest in Scientific American.

It's all about sex…

Posted by Robin on 1 August 2007 2 Comments

The luscious aroma of flowers attracts lovers, and the biological role of that smell is similar: to attract pollinators. “Plants need to attract insects, bats and hummingbirds to transfer the pollen and create fertile seeds,” says Hugh Iltis, professor emeritus of botany at UW-Madison.

— From Curiosities: Why Do Flowers Smell, And Why Do Plants Smell, Too?, in Science Daily, with thanks to Ruth for the link and post title!

The scent we all need…

Posted by Robin on 20 July 2007 4 Comments

Honeybee queens produce a chemical cocktail that politicians would swarm to get their hands on: the scent of a queen keeps her drones and workers loyal to the throne, dutifully feeding and grooming their ruler.

Now it seems that this chemical perfume also prevents worker bees from developing aversions. This means that undergoing a negative experience around a queen won't lead a worker bee to learn to hate her.

— From a fascinating article in Nature about a study conducted by entomologist Alison Mercer of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand.

Lipstick on your collar: the latest smell research

Posted by Robin on 22 March 2006 2 Comments

Female mice apparently prefer mates who have already been chosen by other females:

In a series of experiments designed to help scientists understand the brain chemicals that guide mate selection, Pfaff and his colleagues exposed female mice to odors of either a male mouse alone or a male mouse with a female. The females consistently preferred the scent of males linked to other females…

Read the rest of this article »

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